Apocrypha
Apocrypha is a term used to refer to material or content which is generally seen as less authoritative, or questionable in origin, nature or content. Sometimes this refers to the source or authorship of the material, sometimes to the authority and veracity of its content. For the purposes of the Visionary Universe Wiki, apocryphal material, or simply apocrypha, refers to any material which has not been confirmed as canon material. (See Canon) Canon material is content, facts, events, concepts, etc. which have been clearly shown in published or distributed Visionary Universe productions. That content, once revealed, or established in published work, thus becomes authoritative and establishes itself as 'fact' in the Visionary Universe. Apocrypha, or apocryphal material can fall into one of three categories: * Story-based Apocrypha * Reference Originated Apocrypha * Speculative Apocrypha Each of these is explored more below. Story-based Apocrypha This form of apocryphal material is any material first referenced in the actual contents of a story. It is classified as apocrypha if the reference is of events not directly witnessed, such as a character referring to their backstory, or writings mentioned in the context of a story that reveal certain beliefs, theories or facts, but no evidence is provided. This type of apocrypha, while it can later be disproven, or revealed false must do so in a way that does not conflict with the source of its original revelation. In other words, for example, a character who normally lies and it's revealed that a statement of their past was such a lie, is fine. However, to reveal a character has lied about something in their past, when that is not in the nature or character of the individual, then it must be resolved or explained why such a lie or misrepresentation was made in the first place, in such a way as to retain the integrity of the character's personality. Story based apocrypha can originate in any number of ways. When referenced within the Wiki, this type of apocrypha should be noted in such a way as the reader can trace back the source of the information. Thus in the referencing of the content, its source should be properly annotated. For example, "According to..." listing the name of the source, then listing the content itself would be a way of annotating content derived from statements or writings referenced in a story. This type of apocrypha should be fully referenced and properly annotated in all relevant Primary Source Articles and can appear in the context of Secondary Source Articles. Reference Originated Apocrypha By the very nature of the Visionary Universe Wiki, readers and fans are invited to add original creative content and in so doing, thus create reference originated apocrypha. In the spirit of the wiki project and true collaboration, the mutual understanding is that when such material is created for the sake of the reference it will be considered respectfully canon until overwhelming reason, debate or other cause requires it to be changed. In other words, such content originated within the context of the wiki itself will be included as canon unless overwhelming mitigating circumstances require a change. This type of apcrypha though specifically refers to supplementary based material and content generated through the wiki process and generally left as approved content. When creating supplementary material that enriches or deepens the knowledge and insights of a character or other concept's history, background or detail, the idea is to maintain that information as accurate unless it was mistaken originally, or would be conflicted by elements or stories already in planning. More specifically, by way of example, this could refer to material created in the wiki which outlines a character's favorite foods, family tree, or the previously unrevealed cultural traditions of a race or species. These types of references are generally non-story oriented, and more supplementary material oriented. This would be contrasted with material which references never before revealed characters or major events, which generally will not fit within the confines of the reference and will be removed. This type of content also refers to content generally more 'safe' in terms of being minor, supporting material, as opposed to major revelations or changes. This type of apocrypha may be found in both Primary Souce Articles and Second Source Articles. Speculative Apocrypha This type of apocrpypha is more intentional apocryphal material that allows contributors to push the limits in reference. It is when a contributor intentionally projects the future or past of the focus of an article, such as a character, land, object, or group. This type of apocrypha takes elements, hints, subtle facts revealed and uses them as a base to either guess at mysteries or secrets about the source, or to project forward or backward in the history of the source. This type of material is written with the understanding that very likely it will eventually be disputed and disproven, then removed. However, such types of material can provide speculation and incite interest among fans and contributors. Such speculative apocrypha should be referenced or annotated in such a way as to set it off from more traditional reference or apocryphal reference. For example, such speculative content could be introduced by a statement similar to, "some legends indicate..." or "some sources refer to..." both of which clearly establishes and sets off that what follows is pure speculation. This type of reference can be included in Primary Source Articles as well as Secondary Source Articles. General Comments In general, apocryphal material will be open to discussion and debate until final decisions are made from moderators, or facts are more clearly established in a published or produced project. Apocryphal material of all types generated within the reference itself is done with the understanding that it may either be eventually deleted when disproven, or may actually fall in line with actual plans for a concept or property in the Visionary Universe, and that in such cases, the intent of the material most likely pre-existed any such speculation. Category:Admin Category:Content Terms